The 2024 Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival: A recap

It’s Monday morning, and the fog clings to the cliffs on Signal Hill. Some of it hangs low and curls its way onto the streets of downtown St. John’s, making the whole folk festival weekend feel like some sort of dream. I find myself doubting if it was even real. I have a ferry to catch, so I’m up early. I head to Parlour, a coffee/ice cream spot across from the folk festival grounds of Bannerman Park, for an Americano. While I’m in line, I see Republic of Doyle actor Allan Hawco with a bunch of his celebrity pals just hanging out. Nobody bothers them, because this is a town where nobody is going to bother you, no matter how famous you are.

We’ve had many visitors, like Oprah and David Letterman, Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart, John Mellencamp, Bob Dylan, Meg Ryan, Russell Crowe, Carrie Fisher and Harper Simon. Jimmy Kimmel is even an honorary mayor of the Newfoundland town, Dildo, but he has yet to visit. Everyone finds it hard to believe, but Leonard Cohen also came to town once and played at my high school. It’s true!

In recent years, Jason Momoa has been spotted on the island for business and for pleasure, but Newfoundland has long attracted its fair share of celebrities to our shores. Back in 1985, the legendary Tina Turner launched her What’s Love Got To Do With It North American tour. Johnny Cash’s famous hunting excursion happened here in 1961, too.

It’s clear that Newfoundland is on the map as a bucket list spot for many, no matter the reason for coming.

And those are the exact words that multiple Grammy-award winning country artist Emmylou Harris used in St. John’s as she was headlining the mainstage on Saturday night. When she happily mused, “You’ve been on my bucket list, St. John’s!” the crowd erupted in a huge cheer, just so excited for her that she finally made it and that we were all here to experience it. She had clearly been enjoying herself in St. John’s and was spotted visiting some local shops downtown during her visit, including the iconic O’Brien’s music store. She even mentioned the weather, which is the most Newfoundland thing you can do. “Yesterday was cold and foggy and today was hot and sunny. Thanks for showing me both kinds of weather. I like both of it.”

Emmylou’s set was sheer musical joy as her and the Red Dirt Boys gave it their all. They played so hard that the fiddle player, Eamon McLoughlin (who is the staff fiddler at the Grand Ole Opry), broke a string midway through the set! Right after he changed his string, Emmylou broke a string on her famous jumbo guitar. She took this as a sign to sing an a cappella song, “Calling My Children Home,” with beautiful blended harmonies from her band. As far back as it could go, the crowd was silent. All 4,000 people in the park were listening intently and totally captivated. This was record-breaking attendance for the festival, and hopefully big acts like this can continue to draw crowds for future festivals.

Once the applause faded, Emmylou said, “I heard there is a song that you all might really like here,” before starting the song “Sonny’s Dream” by the late Newfoundland singer-songwriter Ron Hynes. There wasn’t a dry eye in all of Bannerman Park. I will never forget that moment and the feeling of knowing that Emmylou Harris played something so special to our province is something that will stay with me forever.

There were so many Canadian and Newfoundland references during her set, which just made everything so much more relatable to the crowd. Emmylou mentioned that she once married a Canadian, producer Brian Ahern, in Halifax, and that she worked with a Canadian producer in New Orleans named Malcolm Burn. Referencing Canadian folk heroes Kate and Anne McGarrigle as influences on her music, she played some standard hits, like “Luxury Liner” and “Orphan Girl”. When she finished playing “Two More Bottles of Wine,” she chuckled and said, “I should have sung ‘two more bottles of Screech’!” While she didn’t have time to get Screeched in on this trip, she promised that on her next trip she would kiss the cod.

Emmylou ended her set with a song that she sang in tribute to another Canadian who has been important to her on her musical path. She invited Steve Earle out to join her in the song, “Pilgrim,” and they dedicated it to music scene pioneer Mary Martin. A Canadian who ended up in New York and Nashville, Mary played pivotal roles in the development of folk and rock music by introducing Bob Dylan to the Hawks and launching Leonard Cohen’s career. These are just a couple of examples amidst numerous wonderful contributions that she made to the scene and to artist’s careers throughout her lifetime. Mary passed away on July 4, 2024, just a week before the Newfoundland Folk Festival.

Just before Emmylou, Steve Earle was onstage to do a solo acoustic set. He did an incredible job of setting the emotional tone and commanded the entire park as he played solo guitar and then switched to mandolin for the last two songs. His presence was larger than life and he had a calm, easy demeanour. The crowd sang along to most of his songs, and he included crowd pleasers like “Galway Girl” and “Copperhead Road.”

When Steve Earle called for Emmylou Harris to join him for a song, the entire park rose to their feet as if for royalty, and Emmylou was certainly the queen of the folk fest. They sang Steve Earle’s song, “Goodbye” and it was a breathtaking rendition. They are both such heartfelt singers, and their voices combined felt so intimate, as it was just Steve playing guitar for accompaniment.

Before Steve Earle, the audience was treated to some incredible performances by local Juno-award winners Duane Andrews and the Hot Club of Conception Bay, a group that combines traditional Newfoundland music with the swing jazz of the legendary two fingered guitarist Django Reinhardt. The Hot Club of Conception Bay features Erin Power (vocals/mandolin), Andrew Dale (bouzouki/bass) and Isaac Andrews Power (fiddle). They played with finesse and demonstrated the impressive range of their instruments.

The Bageshree Vaze also played on Saturday night. An Indo-Canadian dance artist, musician and writer, Bageshree is an award-winning Kathak dance artist, and as a vocalist, she has five CDs/albums to her credit. They grabbed everyone’s attention by opening with a Hindi version of the Beatles’ classic, “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” Bageshree was backed by a group of musicians local to St. John’s, and with her guiding the way, they played through a history of Bollywood music that was fun to hear and dance to!

Mo Kenney also played the mainstage on Saturday, and it was interesting to hear their approach to songwriting and their storytelling. A very engaging performance overall. I especially loved the song, “I Faked It,” and it seems like a great introduction to anyone who wants to get into listening to Mo Kenney’s music.

Earlier in the evening, the audience also heard music from locals Anuri Qilaujjaqtiit, Sherry Ryan, Allan Ricketts, Aaron Collis and Richard Neville. Each of these artists presented works from Newfoundland by themselves or by other Newfoundlanders. This part of the folk festival is so vital to keeping Newfoundlanders singing traditional songs, and was a great way to start the evening.

The Saturday evening of the folk festival was all of that. It really happened. It was a large day. It wasn’t a dream. And neither was the Friday night or the Sunday night!

Let’s talk about Friday night first.

Maryna Krut is the world’s first soul bandurist artist, which combines incredible vocals with the traditional Ukrainian folk instrument, the bandura. She gave a mesmerizing performance, and I would recommend seeing her play if you have the chance!

Nico Paulo was a great follow-up to Maryna Krut’s set. Her music is hypnotic and soothing and sets her incredible voice over lush pop sounds.

Ouroboros was the wake-up call we all needed and started everyone off dancing for the night. Ouroboros brings together infectious dance grooves from around the world using the raw energy of saxes, vocals, and drums. A blend of folk-funk-jazz, they are a dance band full stop.

Digging Roots brought their Juno-award winning joyful message of resistance to St. John’s. Their music celebrates Anishinaabe and Onkwehón:we traditions of round dance and interconnectedness, and the beat of the mallets on the drum set stood out as a call to feel and to dance. It was coming on dark as Digging Roots took the stage, and by now there was a crowd at the front of the stage for dancing.

William Prince was the headliner for Friday night, and what a performance it was. Gently commanding, William used his velvet baritone voice to drape his lyrics on a willing crowd. His song, “Peace of Mind,” became chant-like as the audience joined in, and William paused during his set to ask everyone to “stand in the joy” of their surroundings. And that’s exactly what I did for the whole weekend. I stood in the joy of meeting new people. I stood in the joy of reconnecting with old friends. When you stop to take a look, William Prince has it right. There is much joy to be standing in. That’s the name of his latest release, and everyone needs to check it out. But be forewarned and forearmed with your biggest box of Scotties. His songwriting is so unique and his perspective is so refreshing that he might be able to teach everyone a thing or two, or at least remind us. He moves the heart and moves the mind. What a tricky thing to accomplish. Like William Prince sings, “it gets easier and harder all the time.”

We already talked about Saturday in great detail. And you know what I’d say anyway. Emmylou, Emmylou, Emmylou. I know, I know. Let’s move on to Sunday!

Sunday was a big finale of traditional music.

Starting with the Doug Dorward Collective, which was a one-time gathering of incredible players just for this festival, the audience was treated to fiddle music of Scotland and Newfoundland and Labrador. What a lucky crowd!

Portage was next, and they are a new super-group of five fiddlers/multi-instrumentalists/singers from across Canada: Anne Lederman, Erynn Marshall, Laura Risk, Christina Smith, and Jean Hewson are all leaders in their stylistic fields – their music is rooted in Newfoundland, Quebec, Ontario, the Prairies, Appalachia and the West Coast. Collectively they are forging soundscapes that weave their respective traditions together in new and inventive ways. Their technical prowess was immediately evident, and like the Doug Dorward collective, it was just a ton of great musicians all at once.

Charlie Rose and Sydney were the Equinor Newfound Talent Winner for the festival. Playing guitar and piano, Charlie Rose and Sydney played earnest and heartfelt originals for the crowd. It was nice to be there to cheer them on, and to see that there is for sure another generation of songwriters coming up through the ranks. This mainstage opportunity was really great for them! Looking forward to hearing more songs from this duo in the future!

Maria Cherwick & Jockey Special was yet another presentation of a collection of talented musicians. The ensemble is headed by violinist Maria Cherwick, with input on arrangements by Duane Andrews (who played on Saturday night of the festival). The sheer range of tunes played by this group was phenomenal. Everything from classical to Newfoundland to Ukrainian folk songs. So fun to see the musicians delighting in these acrobatics!

De Temps Antan was up next, and guess what? More fiddle! High-tempo fiddling and accordion with tunes from Quebec. This was a nice warm-up for the finale of the folk festival!

The Juno award-winning trio The Ennis Sisters took to the stage to close out the 48th annual Newfoundland Folk Festival. They gave it their all, and their step-dancing was not to be missed!